Giampaolo looks on the bright side: “We improved after the break, we’ll learn from this”

It was a frustrating night at the Bentegodi as Verona defended resolutely to earn a goalless draw in spite of a number of chances for the Blucerchiati.

Marco Giampaolo though put the game in perspective: “It was a game of two halves,” said the Samp coach. “We struggled to string passes together in the first period but we were a lot better after the break. It’s just a shame we didn’t produce our second-half display for the full 90 minutes.”

The visitors could have won it had Nicolas not pulled out a superb stop to deny Ramirez and Caracciolo not sent Zapata’s stoppage-time header against the post. “Their keeper played very well and we were unlucky late on,” concluded Giampaolo. “We finished on a high, however, so I must say we’ve made progress in a number of areas. I’m less pleased than when we win but I’ll look at this game as an experience to learn from going forward. We have just a few days to prepare for our match against AC Milan but now we’ll focus on resting up.”